Press installation



May 21, 1968 A. MEYER 3,383,884

PRESS INSTALLATION Filed June 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORARNFRiED MEYER BY CQzAw AZORNEYS May 2 1968 A. MEYER 3,383,884

PRES S INSTALLAT ION Filed June 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheer.

IN VENTOR l umu ARNFRiED MEYER ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office3,383,884 Patented May 21, 1968 9 Claims. (Cl. 68256) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An installation for pressing out or squeezing out elasticmaterials containing liquid, especially wet textile fabrics, essentiallyconsisting of parallel rollers or drums resiliently pressed against oneanother of which at least one roller is provided with an elastic jacketor casing enclosing an air pressure chamber for providing high radialresiliency.

Background of the invention Such types of installations have alreadybecome known in the art which consist of twoparallel rollers, of whichone roller is adapted to be driven and of which the other roller isdisplaceably supported in lateral guide means and is held pressedagainst the first-mentioned roller by springs. Both rollers are providedin the prior art with an envelope of relatively hard rubber. Such knownpress installations produce a satisfactory result only when the materialto be pressed-out, for example, the wet laundry, is introduced betweenthe rollers at the same height, i.e., evenly distributed over the rollerwidth. However, this cannot be realized by reason of the very differentshapes and forms of the individual laundry pieces so that always placeswith higher material Stratification are present against which therollers then support themselves. The areas disposed adjacent to theseplaces are then either not compressed or squeezed-out at all or arecompressed only inadequately. The effectiveness of such a pressinstallation is therefore incomplete.

Furthermore, rollers or drums for the pressing-out of liquid have becomeknown in the prior art in which rin shaped hoses are placed alongsideone another directly on the circumference of a rigid roller body or inwhich the rigid roller body is spirally surrounded by a hose. A pressuremedium is fed into the hose or hoses. The hoses used for that purpose,however, normally have only a small diameter so that with the maximumpossible yieldingness corresponding to the size of the inner dimensionsof the hose, only a slight elasticity is obtainable which, in manycases, is inadequate. It is additionally known for purposes of improvingthe pressing effectiveness to surround such a roller with an additionalelastic jacket of lesser thickness. However, by such an arrangement onlyan equalization of the uneven outer surface of the roller, otherwiseformed by the hoses, can be achieved. An improvement of the elasticityand therewith of the pressing effectiveness is not connected with thismeasure.

Summary It is the aim of the present invention to create an installationfor pressing-out materials containing liquid, in

which the rollers are so constructed that they are able to follow thedifferences in height of the material to be pressed-out occurring duringthe pressing operation and that they squeeze out or press-out the liquiduniformly in all places.

The present invention solves the underlying problem in that the elasticcasing has a high yieldingness which is produced by at least one hollowspace provided on the inside into which is fed a pressure gas.

According to a feature of the present invention, the casing itselfconsists of an elastic material within which are provided one or severalhose-shaped hollow spaces for the accommodation of the pressure medium.

According to a further feature of the present invention, severalring-shaped hoses are provided as hollow spaces which are arrangedcoaxially in one or several layers radially one above the other and inthe longitudinal direction of the roller adjacent one another.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention distinguishes itself bythe fact that a single hose is provided as hollow space which isembedded in the elastic material spirally in several layers radially oneabove the other and in the longitudinal direction of the roller adjacentone another.

According to a further modified construction of the present invention,the elastic casing forms the walls of the circumferential surfaces andat least a part of the two end surfaces of a hose-shaped hollow bodywhose interior space represents a single hollow space for theaccommodation of the pressure gas.

The arrangement according to the present invention offers the advantagethat the elastic casing which is under the influence of the gaspressure, is able to deform strongly and thus also with very differentcontours of the material to be treated completely abuts at every place.As a result thereof, all or at least nearly all areas are subject to auniformly high pressure by means of which the liquid contained thereinis pressed-out or forced out. An increase of this effectiveness can beobtained by the heating of at least one of the rollers. A constructionhas proved itself particularly advantageous in which there is providedat least one roller with an elastic casing under gas pressure and atleast one heatable counter-roller having a rigid casing that conductswell the heat. In combination with the conveyor means feeding thematerial to the press and removing the same after treatment thereof, thearrangement according to the present invention may be inserted into alarger, continuously operating installation. The material may be fedthereby to the press installation in only a coarsely distributedcondition on the conveyor means so that additionally a considerablesaving in work results. All materials can be treated by the press inaccordance with the present invention in which the liquid containedtherein can be removed by a pressingout operation, for example, textilematerials of all kinds, leather (hides and skins) or the like, as wellas also vegetable goods, for example, for dc-juicing.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pressof the type described above which eliminates, by simple means, theaforementioned shortcomings and drawbacks encountered with the prior artconstructions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pressfor textile materials and the like which assures a uniform pressingaction of the material regardless of the thickness or number of layersat any particular place of the material.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of apress installation for pressing-out liquid from various textilematerials or the like which is so constructed and arranged that therollers can readily adapt themselves to the irregular contours andthicknesses of the material to be presed out.

Still a further object of the present invention resides in elasticrollers for press installations which have a sufficient resiliency toconsiderably improve the pressing effectiveness thereof.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of apress installation which not only improves the pressing effectivenessbut also obviates the need for careful distribution of the material onthe conveyor leading to the press.

These and further objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more obvious from the following description whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows, forpurposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance withthe present invention, and wherein:

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view ofa first embodiment of a press installation in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the press installation of FIGURE1, partly in cross section, to show the details of certain partsthereof;

FIGURE 3 is a partial front elevational view of a modified embodiment ofthe elastic roller in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a schematic side elevational view of one possiblearrangement of the rollers for a press installation in accordance withthe present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic side elevational view of another possiblearrangement for the rollers of a press installation in accordance withthe present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a somewhat schematic side elevational view of a modifiedembodiment of a press installation in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIGURE 7 is a front end elevational view, partly in cross section, of amodified embodiment of a roller in accordance with the present inventionhaving a spirally shaped hose;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view through the roller of FIGURE 7, takenalong line VIIIVIII;

FIGURE 9 is a somewhat schematic side elevational view, similar toFIGURE 6, of a still further modified embodiment of a press installationin accordance with the present invention having a freely floatingelastic roller, i.e., a shaftless roller without a support-shaft;

FIGURE 10 is an elevational view, partly in cross section, of ashaftless roller in accordance with the present invention provided withconcentrically arranged hoses;

FIGURE 11 is a front elevational view, partly in cross section, similarto FIGURE 10, of a modified embodiment of a shaftless roller inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 12 is an elevational view of a still further modified embodimentof a hoseshaped roller in accordance with the present invention,one-half of the roller being shown in cross section; and

FIGURE 13 is a cross-sectional view of the roller of FIGURE 12, takenalong line XIIIXIII.

Detailed description Referring now to the drawing wherein like referencenumerals are used throughout the various views to designate like parts,the press installation according to the present invention essentiallyconsists of two conventional guide columns 1 suitably anchored in orsecured on both Q I so,

sides to a base plate (not shown) or the like, whose upper ends eachcarry a bearing support or bracket 2. A shaft 3 is supported in thebearing brackets 2 on which is mounted and secured a roller 4. Theroller 4 is hollow and consists of a thermally good, conductive rigidcasing generally designated by reference numeral 4 which is carried bytwo end disks 4". The shaft 3 is further connected with a driving gear 5which meshes with a pinion 6 suitably connected with a conventionaldrive motor (not shown).

The roller 4 rolls off on a further roller 7 which is arranged on ashaft 8. The shaft 8 is supported in two bearing brackets 9 which aredisplaceably mounted on the guide columns 1 and in which are secured tierods 19. The tie rods 10 extend through the bearing brackets T; and aresupported against the bearing brackets 2 by means of springs 11, forexample, cup springs, so that the rollers 4 and 7 are held pressedagainst one another with relatively large force.

The roller 7 may consist according to FIGURE 2 of several tire-likebodies 7 coaxially aranged adjacent one another on the shaft 8; a gasunder pressure, for example, compressed air, is contained within theinterior spaces 7 of the bodies 7'. As a result of the abutment pressureof the rollers 4 and '7, the bodies 7' are so deformed within the areaof roller contact that they form a continuous fiat or plane surface. Inorder to avoid a lateral escape, end disks 12 may be provided at bothsides. The individual inner spaces 7 are appropriately connected witheach other so that a pressure equalization can take place among thevarious bodies 7'.

A modified construction of the roller generally designated by referencenumeral 7 is illustrated in FIGURE 3. In this embodiment, a singlecontinuous roller-shaped hollow body 7 made of elastic material isprovided whose interior space 7" contains the pressure gas and which isreinforced on both sides by the ends disks 12.

A conveyor band 13 (FIG. 1) may be provided for the feeding of thematerial to be treated and a conveyor band 14 may be provided for theremoval of this material after completing the pressing-out operation, asindicated in FIG- URE 1 in dash and dot lines. The drives of the rollers4 and 7 and of the conveyor band 13 are thereby appropriately so matchedto one another that the latter runs somewhat slower than the rate oftravel between the rollers 4 and 7. In this manner, an additionaldistribution of the fed material takes place.

For purposes of further improving the uniform pressing action, therollers 7 may be surrounded with a further jacket or envelope 15 ofelastic material, as schematically indicated in dash and dot lines inFIGURE 2. For the same reason, it is appropriate with differentembodiments to construct the rollers 4 and/or 7 so as to be heatable.The heating can take place in any conventional manner, for example,electrically or by heated steam, heated water, or heated air. In FIGURE2, continuous axial bores 16 are indicated in the shaft 3 for the supplyand discharge of the heating medium which carry connecting pieces 17 forthe supply and discharge lines, respectively.

Depending on the intended application, one or several rollers 4 and/ or7 may be used in the installation according to the present invention.For example, FIGURE 4 illustrates an arrangement with one heated roller4 and two elastic rollers 7 disposed laterally above the heated roller 4whereas in the embodiment according to FIGURE 5, the two elastic rollers7 are provided laterally below the heated roller 4. For purposes ofimproving the guidance of the material passing through the pressinstallation, a continuous conveyor band 18 may also be provided which,together with the material, travels between the rollers 4 and 7. Ofcourse, other combinations with additional rollers 4- and '7 are alsopossible within the scope of the present invention in order to obtain,for example, as long as possible and as intensive as possible a contactwith the heated roller 4. With several heated rollers 4, these rollersmay possibly be heated to different temperatures whereas the rollers 7may be subjected to differently high pressures and may eventually beused with or without additional elastic jackets 15. Furthermore, theexclusive use of elastic rollers 7 is also possible within the conceptof the present invention it a particularly high elasticity is desired.The entire installation is appropriately accommodated within a housing19 of conventional construction.

A different construction of the elastic roller 7 is illustrated inFIGURES 7 and 8. The modified roller 7 of FIGURES 7 and 8 comprises acasing 20 which essentially consists of a hose spirally wound about theroller 7 in the longitudinal direction thereof. This hose 21 is disposedin several layers radially one above the other so that approximately thethickness of the casing 20 is formed and is embedded in elastic material22, for example, is vulcanized into a rubber-like mass. The elasticmaterial has externally the shape of the roller 7. The two ends of thehose 21 may be sealed off in the usual manner whereby a connectingdevice is provided at one end for the supply of the pressure medium. Inthe embodiment of FIGURES 7 and 8, the two ends are coordinated to acommon connection 21 which is in communication by way of bores 23 withinthe shaft 8 with a pressure medium source or is adapted to be broughtinto communication with the same. It may be readily seen from these twofigures that a high degree of yieldings is achieved by the pressureprevailing on the inside of the hose 21 in conjunction with the elasticmaterial 22 of the casing 20.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 9', the roller 7 consists exclusively of thecasing 20 with the hose embedded in the elastic material 22 and restsonly on hearing rollers 24 without axial guidance, i.e., is freelyfloating, whereby the roller 7 remains in its proper position and indriving connection with the roller 4 by rolling off on the bearingrollers 24. It may be readily seen from FIGURE 9 that with thisembodiment, the entire diameter of the roller 7 is available as springand therewith an increased elasticity is present whereby a central,continuous bore 25 may be additionally provided within the core of theroller. An elastic body 26 in a manner of a rubber spring may beprovided in this bore 25 as indicated in FIGURE 11. This body 26 mayagain be equipped with continuous or nearly continuous bores 27 or mayalso be equipped with differently shaped hollow spaces. It is furtherpossible to construct the roller 7 without axial guidance and having arigid core piece.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 10, a number of ring-shapedhoses 28 are provided as hollow spaces for aocommodatnig or receivingthe pressure medium which are embedded adjacent one another and inseveral layers radially above one another in the elastic material 22.The individual hoses 28 may be so connected with each other that theyform a common pressure system which is provided with a connecting devicefor a pressure medium source. Of course, hoses 28 of certain areas mayalso be combined into separate pressure systems which are set underpressure independently from one another whereby eventually differentlyhigh pressures may be provided.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 11, the hoses 28' have a very large interiordimension so that only a relatively small number are arranged in thelongitudinal direction of the roller 7 adjacent one another within theelastic material 22. Also, these hoses 28 are preferably connected witheach other for the pressure equalization.

It is further within the scope of the present invention to provide hosesor the like in the casing 20 whose longitudinal axes are disposedapproximately parallel to the axis of the roller 7. For example, asingle hose could also be used with such an arrangement which isembedded approximately in a meander-like manner within the elasticmaterial 22.

The roller according to FIGURES 12 and 13 forms an elastic hose-shapedhollow body in which the wall 29 consists of the elastic material. Thiswall 29 forms essentially a cylindrical or approximately cylindricallyshaped external surface 30 and end surfaces 31 decreasing to a smallerdiameter at both ends in a conical manneriConnecting pieces 32 areprovided at both ends which are connected with the wall 29 in apressure-tight manner. In this manner, a single pressure chamber isformed within the interior space 33 of the roller 7 into which isadmitted the pressure medium. For that purpose, a continuous bore 34 isprovided in one of the connecting pieces 32 with which is connected apressure medium source by way of a corresponding connecting device.Also, the roller of FIGURES 12 and 13 is appropriately installed withoutaxial guidance in the manner already described above.

As pressure medium, there may be used, generally speaking, a gas and/ora liquid which additionally may be heated for increasing the pressingeffect.

While I have shown and described several embodiments in accordance withthe present invention, it is understood that the same is not limitedthereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications asknown to a person skilled in the art; and I, therefore, do not wish tobe limited to the details shown and described herein, but intend tocover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An installation for pressing out elastic materials containing liquid,especially wet textile materials, comprising: at least two substantiallyparallel rollers having axes; at least one of said rollers having ahighly elastic tubular casing forming the external walls along theentire contact surface, and means forming a hollow gas pressure chamberwithin said casing; said casing consisting essentially of a highlyresilient material readily deformable inwardly toward the axes asubstantial distance through out the entire axial extent of said contactsurface; the opposite axial ends of said one roller consistingessentially of said casing freely extending radially unsupported byadditional means for at least one half the radius of said one roller;said opposite axial ends each extending conically radially inwardly andaxially outwardly to constitute means for resiliently axially andradially supporting said casing in the vicinity of its contact surface;means providing the sole radial support for said one roller consistingessentially of a plurality of back-up rollers supportingly engaging saidone roller in a freely floating fashion without axial guidance on theopposite side of said one roller from the other of said parallelrollers.

2. The device according to claim 1, said one roller includes meansclosing the opposed axial ends of said casing forming a completelyhollow interior consisting essentially solely of gases radially inwardof said contact surface.

3. The device according to claim 2, including means for heating theother of said parallel rollers.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein said parallel rollers are verticallyarranged with said one roller being the bottom roller; said back-uprollers engaging beneath said one roller and consisting of threerollers.

5. The device of claim 4, including means for supplying heated gas underpressure to the interior of said one roller.

6. The device of claim 1, including conveyor means for feeding thematerial to be treated to said installation; driving means for drivingsaid parallel rollers and said conveyor means so that the rate of travelbetween the rollers is greater than the rate of travel of said conveyormeans.

7. The device of claim 1, including means for heating the other of saidparallel rollers.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein said parallel rollers are verticallyarranged with said one roller being the bottom roller; said back-uprollers engaging beneath said one roller and consisting of threerollers.

9. The device of claim 1, including means for supplying heated gas underpressure to the interior of said one roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS TWohy 29113 Leist 38-52 Shattuck29--113 X Morin 68-268 X Christensen 68-244 Czefra 68-267 X 10 Cohen241-102 Johnson 29113 X A1lison 29113 X Nelson 10093 Jonghe 100-96FOREIGN PATENTS Australia.

LOUIS O. MAASSEL, Primary Examiner.

